Method of making safes or vaults.



No. 813,394. PATENTED FEB. 20, 1906.

W. BRINTON METHOD OF MAKING SAFES 0R VAULTS. APPLIOATION FILED MAY 7. 1904v flaw??? I Wife/$222k;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE W ALTER BRINTON, OF H IUH BRIDGE, NEN JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO 'lTAYliOlt [RON AND STEEL COMPANY, A (,ORPORAllON OF N Ell JERSEY.

METHOD OF MAKING SAFES OR VAULTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 20, 1906.

Application filed May 7,1904. Serial No. 206,844.

To (LU/ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that l, WALTER BRINToN, a citizen of the United States, residing in High Bridge, in the county of Hunterdon and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Making Safes or Vaults, of which the following is a specification.

The present improvement relates to burglar-proof safes and vaults, the object of the invention being to provide an improved method of making a manganese-steel safe or vault or vault member having superior resisting qualities.

1n the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a vertic sectional view of one form of this improved safe or vault body. Fig. 2- is a perspectiveview thereof, and Fig. 3 is a sectional View of the door,

' Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures of the drawings.

' slowly and then rapidly, u mined point, when it is rapi It has been found that superior results are obtained by the use of steel having a predetermined quantity'of man anese therein and which has now become well known as manganese steel in the manufacture of safes and vaults, since it is practically impossible to drill or cut it, the only practicable machining thereof being by grindin Consequently a safe or vault formed of this material is drill and saw proof. It is, however, when unheattreated more or less brittle, so that it'is nec essary to pro erly toughen it in order that it will effective y resist the force of high explosives. This has prior to my invention been done by subjecting the casting to heat treatment, which has been carried out by placing the casting when cold or after it has been cooled in a cold furnace and then heated, first to a predeterly cooled by immersing it in brine-water or otherwise. Manganese steel, however, is a very difficult and peculiar metal to handle and frequently owing to this rapidcooling immediately after casting an entirely too. rand shrinkage or contraction of-the metal ta es place, resulting in. internal strains which cause cracks and im erfections in the castings, rendering them va ueless for the purposes for which they were designed, this being especially true of very large castings or those of intricate dehas cooled In order to prevent this too rapid coolsi n.

the casting from ing and to further prevent reaching a point of rest that is, a point where there is an entire or substantial absence of heat from the casting-and to-rnaintain therein a part of the original casting heat thereof, such part being determined according to the size and character of the castiiiig, the casting as soon as it has cient to permit it to be handled, or, in other words, when it has reached a .pointwhere its strength is sufficient to retain its own weight without warping, is after being first freed age covered with sand or preferably placed in a pit specially prepared for this purpose where it is free from drafts of air which would tend to rapidly cool it. In this manner the casting is kept at a uniform tem throughout and the too rapid coo ing andconsequent too rapid contraction or shrinkage thereof prevented. When theca'st-ing down to the right degree of heat for final toughening, which is determined by the operator and necessarily varies according to the size and character of the casting, superior results having been obtained maintaining in the casting acertain part of its original casting heat varying between. about 100 Fahrenheitthat is to say, above normal atmospheric temperatureand substantially 1, 000? Fahrenheit, varying according to the size, design, and character of the casting, it is placed'in a heated furnace having a temperature corresponding or substantially corresponding to that of the cast ing at this time and then heated up, usually rapidly, to a high temperature now well known in the art of toughening manganese steel. The casting is then removed and raw.

jection or flange 3 of peculiar formation, provided with a series of metal inserts located therein during the casting of the structure. These inserts are of such compos1t1on as will solidifi ed su from any parts of the mold which would have a tendency to retard its contraction or shrinkerature 1 he not be proof against and withstand enormous] compressions, thereby insure against anypossihle peeping effect Lysiretrliing of the steel of the door-jamb opening by sledging or otherwise, wholly prevemiug the admission of fluid explosive n'nitcriai. This result has been obtained by forming the inserts of chrmnc-stcel. The jamb 5 of the body projects inwardly beyond the front proper of the body, being formed by a fl side ails of such body, but of braces 7 integral with such flange and side walls This construction affords a very strong jamb from a comparativelysmall mass of metal. The door 4, of any suitable'fon mation, is likewise of an integral structure and formed in the same manner as the body. Apart of the purpose of these inserts is to prc- I l ange 6 free of the I braced by a serles vent the peening of the metal adjacent to the door--ioints, and they are so designed that when the main safe-body is in the process of casting the fluid manganese steel completely l envelops the inserts, which are larger inward. than outward-that is, tapered--so that the exposed part which is merely on the l surface is of less area than the base or inner l surface of the inserts. The inserts are therefore firmly fixed or hold in position, making it impossible to loosen or remove from their position except by the destruction of the manl ganese steel which it is entirely enveloped with. These inserts have several functions to perform in assisting to make the safebody casting a success from the casting standpoint, therefore insuring a safe-body casting superior to castings heretofore made for this purpose, not only in their value from the point of hardnesswhich the present on the surof the j amb, but they give very great assistance toward making the mainbody of the safe-casting solid and perfect because of their tendency to solidify the molten steel by cool ing or absorbing the heat at the point in the casting where the greatest amount of heat accumulates and is retained during the pouring of the casting and also during the cooling of the same to the proper degree of heat preparatory to the toughening or treating process, such inserts thus acting as chills and being hardened during the toughening of the safe body' by the heat treatment to which the structure is subjected, hereinbefore set l forth:

The present method of forming and toughor vault bodies is known to be so superior to the method set forth in the Had-'- iield patents, b os. 572,892 and 731,540, in which the casting to be toughened is heat ed f: a cold condition or placed in a coin. furnace, as hereinbefore described, that I not only may it be comparatively rapidly l heated up to a predetermined point instead of first slowly and then rap1dly,.but superior results are ob tained even though the casting so uniform as has heretofore been deemed necessary for the heat treatment of manganese-steel safe or vault bodies. By the present method of treating manganese steel safe or vault castings I have been able to successfully treat and perfect a single casting weighing as much as eight and one-half tons, which it is not practicable to do under the processes set forth in the Hadfield patouts, and have found that this method also gives superior results with smaller-sized castings.

The subject-matter of this case covering the safe or van] has been divided out of this case and will constitute the subject-matter of a separate ap plication now being prepared and to be filed on February 1, 1906. l

I claim as my invention 1. The method of forming a cast, integral toughened, unmachineable safe or vault member or body which consists in first casting the body with resisting-metal inserts located therein around the doorway thereof, then placing the member or body in a heated furnace and applying the heat until has reached a predetermined tei'nperaturc, and then plunging the casting in cold water.

2. The method of forming a cast, integral,

the casting t as an article of manufacture toughened, unmachineable safe or vault body 7 body with resisting-metal inserts located therein around the doorway thereof, and then heating such body, nace in a heated state a heated state, up to a predetermined temperature, and then cooling it.

3. The method of forming a cast, integral, toughened, unmachineable safe or vault body whichconsists in casting the body with resisting-metal inserts located therein around the doorway thereof, then maintaining in the body a part of its castingheat, determined by the size and design of such body, by checking the cooling of such body at a.predeter-- mined point above normal atmospheric temperature, then rapidly heating such body up to 'a predetermined temperature, and then immersing it in a cooling medium.

4. The method of forming a steel safe or vault member which consists in casting the member into its final shape with'resistingmetal inserts located therein along its joint surface, then maintaining therein a art of its casting heat by checking the coo ing of such member at a predetermined tempera ture above normal atmospheric temperature, and then heating said member up to a predetermined temperature and then cooling it.

5. The method of forming ,a steel safe or vault member having a predetermined quantity of manganese therein which consists in casting the member into its final shape with resisting-metal inserts located therein along and with the casting in beginning with the fursteel safe or vault member which consists in casting the same into its final shape with hard-metal inserts located therein along its joint surface, then maintaining therein a part of its casting heat by checking the cooling of such member at a predetermined point above temperature, deterdesign of the member, then. rapidly heating such member up to a predetermined temperature, and then rapidly cooling the same.

7. The method of forming a cast, integral, toughened manganese -steel safe or vault body which consists in casting the body into its final shape with resisting inserts located in such body around the doorway thereof,

normal atmospheric then maintaining therein a part of its original casting heat by preventing the too ra id coolthen heating said ody up to a predetermined oint, and then cooling it.

8. The method oforming a cast, integral, toughened manganese steel safe or vault bod which consists in casting the, body into its al shape with chrome-steel inserts located in such body around the doorway thereof, then maintaining therein a part of its original castin i heat by checking the-cooling of such body, t en rapidly. heating such-body up to a predetermined high temperature, and

then immersing said body into a bath to rapidly cool it.

9. The method of formin a cast, integral, toughened steel safe or van t body having a pre etermined quantity of manganese there in, which consists in casting the body with a projection or flange around its doorway with resisting-metal inserts in said flange, then maintaining in such body a part of its ori inal casting heat determined according to t c size and shape of such body, by checking the cooling thereof at apoint above normal atmospheric temperature, then heating the body up to a predetermined high heat, and then rapidly cooling the same.

'10. The method of forming a cast, integral,

toughened safe or vault body havinga predetermined quantity of manganese therein, which consists 11'1 first casting the body with resisting-metal inserts located therein around the doorway, then maintaining in the body a part of its original casting heat ranging between a point above normal atmospheric temperature and 1,000 Fahrenheit, determined according to the size and shape of such body,

nace and heating predetermined high temperature,

the samerapidly up to a and then rapidly cooling the same by immersion in a cooling medium.

' WALTER BRINTON;

Witnesses:

J ACOB STRUBLE, PERCIVAL CHRYSTIE.

then placing the body in a heated fur- 

